Dr Peter Dingle has a Bachelor of Education in Science, a Bachelor of Environmental Science with first class honours and a PhD. He conducts ongoing research into diet and nutrition, lifestyle and environmental impacts on health, well being and productivity.
To find out more got to www.drdingle.com

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Depression is a debilitating
condition and a major public health problem. It is the top-ranking cause of
non-fatal disease burden in Australia, accounting for eight percent of the
total years lost due to disability in 1996 1. It is predicted to be
the second largest cause of disability in Australia by the year 2020 2.
Depression is a mental disorder that has the potential to greatly impact one’s
everyday activities. The experience of depressed mood, insomnia, loss of
energy, irritability and other symptoms are commonly linked with depression.
Further, recent research demonstrates its association with inflammation.

Unfortunately, although we
continue to diagnose and medicate people for depression, there is little
science and certainly no evidence to continue to prescribe antidepressants to
most individuals. There are more myths in this area than there are facts and,
as a result, many people are led astray by an industry that makes huge amounts
of money from people’s suffering.

Depression
theory

It is important to understand
that most of what we know about the biochemistry and physiology of depression
is theory and not fact. It is an hypothesis but is often presented by
professionals as truth, with the connotation that these professionals know the
full truth about depression. No, in fact, they do not. What we do know is that
serotonin is located in the pineal gland, blood platelets, the digestive tract
and the brain. Serotonin acts as a chemical messenger that transmits nerve
signals between nerve cells and also causes blood vessels to narrow 3.
We know that there are many other chemical messengers in the body that can have
an impact on our mood and state of wellbeing.

Traditionally it has been
thought that drugs most commonly used to treat depression—the selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac® and Zoloft®—act according
to the serotonin hypothesis. This hypothesis purports that levels of serotonin
in the brain determine how we feel: high levels of serotonin cause heightened
happiness, while decreased levels lead to sadness. Clinical depression has been
attributed to low levels of serotonin transmission in the brain 4.
The serotonin transporter 5-HT is a reuptake molecule that removes serotonin,
so it is thought that the SSRIs act to interfere with the action of 5-HT and
therefore allow serotonin to accumulate and levels to increase 4.
This theory is still strongly supported by the pharmaceutical industry 5,
which even uses it to encourage people to “correct” their serotonin levels in
advertising for the drugs 6.

More recently, this theory has
received much criticism as neuroscience research has failed to confirm “any
serotonergic lesion in any mental disorder” 6. That is, the theory
is just not supported by evidence. A growing body of research disagrees with
the serotonin hypothesis 6,7,8. In support of this, a Cochrane
review found that tricyclic antidepressants are of the same efficacy as SSRIs 8.
Since tricyclics do not impact serotonin levels, this would suggest that the
serotonin hypothesis has been disproved. But someone forgot to tell the drug
companies and professionals who continue to aggressively dish out these drugs.

Despite the blind acceptance of
the serotonin theory, the GlaxoSmithKline website has posted: “There is no
clear cut reason for depression, and a number of factors may be at play,
including altered levels of chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) in the
brain, such as serotonin and noradrenaline” 9. If antidepressants
were a cure for depression, there would be a definite illness, with definitive
symptoms and causes that the drugs are targeting. GlaxoSmithKline’s statement
does not support this case.

Antidepressants describe the
broad range of medications prescribed to alleviate the symptoms of certain
depression- and anxiety-related mood disorders and include a number of
different groups of medications. These include monoamine oxidase inhibitors
(MAOIs), tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), tetracyclic antidepressants (TeCAs),
serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), and the current standard
treatment group: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which became
immensely popular in the 1990s 10.

The first antidepressant that
came along with a huge fanfare was Prozac®. Prozac® appeared on the market in
1988 and is still being prescribed today. It has become one of the most
prescribed drugs to date 11. Prozac® is part of a class of
antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

The prescription of antidepressants
has skyrocketed over recent decades 10. From 1996 to 2005,
individuals treated with antidepressants became more likely to also receive
treatment with antipsychotic medications and less likely to undergo
psychotherapy—the net result is more drugs and less treatment. The percentage
of the U.S. population using at least one psychotropic medication increased
from 5.9% in 1996 to 8.1% in 2001 12. Among
the psychotropic drugs, antidepressants are the most frequently prescribed
medications. The U.S. CDC found that antidepressant use in the United States
jumped nearly 400% by the 2005-2008 survey period, compared with the 1988-1994
period, with 11% of those over age 12 taking the drugs (U.S. CDC and
Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics) up from six percent in 1996
13.

Antidepressants are now used by
more than 27 million Americans, most of whom are women 14. Women are
twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder and up to
three times more likely to be diagnosed with dysthymic disorder 15.
However, despite the absence of any scientific evidence, antidepressants are
increasingly being prescribed for other conditions such as hot flashes,
headache, back pain, neuropathy, sleep-related conditions, anxiety spectrum
disorders, eating disorders and fibromyalgia 16. Once prescribed,
many people continue taking antidepressants, with more than 60% of Americans
who use the drugs reporting being on them for two years or more. And about 14% of
Americans taking antidepressant medication have done so for 10 years or longer.
Patients who take the drugs often get them from their regular doctor rather
than a so-called mental health professional.

Last year in Australia, there
were 29 million prescriptions written for medications related to mental health
issues. Antidepressant medications accounted for nearly 60% of these scripts,
followed by anti-anxiety and anti-psychotic drugs 17. This suggests
that around 2.4 million Australians are using medication to deal with mental
health issues.

In the United States, “The
number of visits by patients for depression was 24.5 million in 2001, a 70%
increase since 1987” 18. The ambiguous nature of depression has
provided leeway for significant misdiagnosis. The difficulty in identifying
valid cases of depressive disorder lies within its tendency to share unclear
boundaries with other mental disorders and normality 19. The
distinction between major depression and sadness, for instance, has become
completely obscure. Previously, depression was classed as either endogenous or
reactive 19. Endogenous depression was regarded as a rare biological
condition, whereas reactive depression was exogenous and triggered by stressful
events outside our control, such as the loss of a loved one 19.

Under the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual (DSM-III), the diagnosis of clinical depression requires the
presence of at least five of the possible nine symptoms for at least two weeks.
Some of these symptoms include loss of interest in usual activities, depressed
mood, fatigue, insomnia and lowered appetite. Yet many of these symptoms can be
seen in natural responses to stress, loss 19, illness, fatigue and
poor sleep. Unfortunately this weak criterion translates into a “low threshold
for diagnosing clinical depression” 20. This suggests that there are
huge risks in misdiagnosing normal emotional states as clinical illnesses. As
an example, chronic fatigue is also commonly mistaken for depression due to the
large overlap in symptoms. In one study involving 3,200 individuals, patients who
were depressed in the beginning of the study were found to be four times more likely
to be fatigued, rather than “depressed” 21. Alas, due to the reinforcing
nature of depression and fatigue, diagnosis becomes difficult.

Considering the major
ambiguities surrounding the concept of depression, it is not surprising that
the quantity of prescriptions for antidepressant medication is so high. What is
of most concern is the number of people who are taking antidepressants and
exposing themselves to unnecessary risk and, in too many cases, are not taking
action to resolve underlying issues.

In a later analysis of additional data, Kirsch supported his
earlier findings and reported antidepressants may be more effective than a
placebo only in severe depression 23. Now with more than a dozen
major meta analyses, the research continues to show there is little supporting
evidence that antidepressants work when placebos appear to be just as—and in
some case more—effective. The research also shows the long-term effects tend to
be severe 22,23,24,25,26,27. In the majority of studies, antidepressants
performed the same as inactive placebo pills.

A recent study found that a minority of antidepressant users
actually fared worse than placebo users. In this study, researchers randomly
assigned 156 depression patients to either take the antidepressant sertraline
(Zoloft® and other brands) daily for 16 weeks or be in a placebo group given
inactive pills. After 16 weeks, there were no overall differences in how the
groups fared 28. Of the antidepressant patients, 31% were treatment
“responders,” meaning they had fallen below a certain score on a standard
measure of depression symptoms, or had seen their score drop at least 50%. The
same was true of about 28% of patients in the talk-therapy group, and 24% in
the placebo group. The differences among the three groups were so small as to
likely be due to chance 28.

Two even bigger reviews in 2010 came to the same conclusions.
A review of four meta analyses of efficacy trials submitted to the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration (FDA) suggests that antidepressants are only
“marginally efficacious” compared with placebo and “document profound
publication bias that inflates their apparent efficacy.” In addition, when the
researchers analysed the largest antidepressant effectiveness trial ever
conducted, they found that “the effectiveness of antidepressant therapies was
probably even lower than the modest one reported... with an apparent
progressively increasing dropout rate across each study phase” due to side
effects 29. A review of nine studies involving 751 participants
found that, from the results presented, antidepressants had only a small
positive effect when compared to an active placebo 30. Other studies
have also shown St John’s Wort to be more effective than an SSRI 31 and
exercise to be at least as effective in older patients 32.

Other irregularities were seen in the data. It was noted
that published data consisted entirely of positive outcomes and that many of
the negative trials’ reports were not published or that negative data were displayed
in a positive manner 25,26.Publication bias, where only the positive results are reported and
published, is well known in the drug industry and just a part of the drug
companies’ everyday lies and deception.

Despite the findings of researchers, the FDA in the U.S.
reports that 94% of its studies have shown positive results, with
antidepressants found to be effective in treating depression 33.
However, publication of antidepressant studies by the FDA is highly selective:
“The studies that the FDA judged as positive were approximately 12 times as
likely to be published in a way that agreed with the FDA analysis as were
studies with non-positive results according to the FDA” (Turner et al. 2008).
Why have the FDA in the U.S. and Australian regulatory authorities continued to
go against the scientific evidence?

The likely benefit of antidepressants is the placebo effect 23,25.
In trials, the patients on placebos would see the doctor on a weekly basis for
check-ups and to update the analysts for the report. In addition, the patients were
within easy access to help 24 hours a day 26,34. Thus, the amount of
human contact, attention and care skews the results 26. This could
possibly reveal the reason the placebo had such a strong effect. Imagine the
positive feeling from being closely cared for by your medical practitioner,
including having his or her phone number, rather than just in and out of the
office in 12 minutes. The amount of attention and care influenced the strength
of the placebo. Under real-world conditions, the patient sees the doctor less
frequently and is less likely to seek help 26,34.

The actual efficacy of SSRIs, therefore, remains in question
and often subject to the merits and interests of those conducting a particular
study. Many people drop out of drug trials because of the seriousness of side
effects. The serotonin receptors are responsible for a variety of functions
unrelated to mood, such as sleep, appetite and sexual function, as well as
symptoms such as pain, nausea, depression, and anxiety 35. Common
side effects of taking an SSRI include nausea, dizziness, gastrointestinal
disturbances, anxiety, agitation, insomnia, sexual dysfunction and weight gain 35.
Significant literature exists documenting the symptoms of SSRI discontinuation
syndrome, which range from moderate to severe 36. There can also be
more serious consequences: SSRI use has been linked to serotonin syndrome,
birth defects and high risk of suicide. The link between antidepressants and
suicide has been recognised for at least 20 years and the United States FDA
requires that antidepressants carry a label warning of this increased risk on
each box 37. In such cases it would seem antidepressants are not
effective at all and, in fact, can have serious and even deadly side effects.

Despite these findings that
have now been repeated many times, “professionals” working in the field still
state that antidepressants work and continue to prescribe them to more and more
people.

It is also worth pointing out
that in the United States, until 1990 tryptophan dietary supplements were being
taken by approximately 15 million Americans. On March 22, 1990, the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of L‑tryptophan in response to
several deaths during the previous year from a deadly flu‑like condition called
EMS 38. This is despite L-tryptophan having been used as a
supplement for decades prior to this, by a large number of people, without any
adverse side effects. The problem was caused by a contaminated batch of
tryptophan, not the tryptophan itself. One wonders why it was banned, as most
drugs including antidepressants would be removed from the marketplace if this
principle were applied across the board, including drugs that have been linked
with hundreds of thousands of deaths.

However, on March 26, 1990,
only four days after the banning of L-tryptophan, Prozac®, the wonder drug in
the treatment of depression, was introduced with great fanfare after more than
10 years of development. What a coincidence. As mentioned earlier, Prozac® is
an SSRI, whilst tryptophan actually increases the serotonin levels in the body.

Other interesting facts about
this controversy:

L‑tryptophan was banned as a
dietary supplement in the United States and Australia until 2005. It could,
however, be imported from Japan and became available as a prescription-only
drug. One hundred 500 mg capsules cost approximately $75.00. This is about five
times more expensive than its previous cost as a dietary supplement.

L‑tryptophan is still used in
baby food produced and sold in the United States.

Farmers are still allowed to
use it in stock feed for animals. I wonder if this is because happy animals are
more likely to gain weight?

Thursday, December 13, 2012

In the
1970s, I was instructed to swap from butter to margarine. Fortunately, I did
not like the taste of margarine and, over the years, the more research I conducted
on the topic the more I realised that we were being lead astray and even lied
to about this. Today, when I ask any of my audiences, sometimes in the
hundreds, “Who thinks margarine is better for you than butter?” I rarely get a
positive response. It seems most people already know that margarine is a
dangerous substitute.

It
appears that there is no scientific evidence that margarine is healthier than
butter. In fact, evidence suggests the exact opposite is true. This is summed
up first of all in one of my earlier articles that showed saturated fat is not
the demon it is made out to be and may even be associated with reduced heart attack (another myth
shattered). At least that is what the biggest and best studies show.
Furthermore, we consume many more Omega 6 (vegetable) oils today than our
ancestors did and this is having a negative impact on our health. These oils
are not just in our margarine but also hidden in most of our food. We ate
margarine for 50 years thinking it was made up of so-called “good fats” only to
find out it was laden with the deadliest form of fat: trans fats. Finally,
there is emerging evidence that margarine may not be good for our health, with
or without trans fats, and is nowhere near a natural food; the push to sell
more margarine has come from organisations like the Heart Foundations around
the world and branches of margarine companies with strong vested interests in promoting
margarine sales.

I
think one of the best things to have happened to the Australian cuisine is
Master Chef. It has inspired a whole generation to go back to the kitchen and
start cooking again. It has also encouraged the increased use of butter over
vegetable oils, something the Heart Foundation and the margarine manufacturers
did not like so they had to come up with campaigns to sway people back to
margarine. Interestingly one of the foundation’s ploys was to create, through a
public relations company, a group called “Mums United” which pretends to be a
grassroots mothers campaign against evil butter. According to David Gillespe
(Sweet Poison) and the “duck test” of inductive reasoning, “It walks like a
margarine advertisement and quacks like a margarine advertisement, so guess
what it I think it is?” And the margarine companies fund it! Some of the
group’s tactics have included offering financial support to people who pledged
not to eat butter. So much for it being a grassroots organisation. It seems
that margarine interests have taken some of the old tactics taught to us by the
tobacco industry and big drug companies.

I want
to make it very clear that I have no vested interests in anything other than
people’s health and the truth.

Various
heart associations around the world recommend increasing Omega 6 (vegetable)
oil consumption and reducing saturated fats, based on flawed studies that have
been seriously questioned due to data manipulation. This includes the omission
of relevant trials with unfavourable outcomes—that is, leaving out any negative
studies 1,2,3 and including studies that combine both Omega 3 (fish
oils, which are good for you) and Omega 6 consumption together under the title
of “polyunsaturated fats.” The associations even included poorly done studies
as long as the studies showed the desired results. This type of publication
bias is well known in the research literature particularly with big drug
companies trying to show that their drugs work better than they really do.

Margarine
is far from being a natural product—well, as much as you can claim that plastic
is natural. The major components of margarine are “vegetable” oils, obtained
from foods such as sunflower seeds, rapeseed, or potentially genetically
modified canola and soya beans. These oils are usually extracted using the
application of pressure, heat and possibly solvents and then treated with
sodium hydroxide to “neutralise” certain fats in the oil. It is then bleached,
filtered and steam-treated to produce what is essentially a colourless,
flavourless murky looking liquid. The liquid is converted into a solid at room
temperature through esterifcation, which uses high temperature and pressure,
along with enzymes or acids, to harden the oil—this is also called hydrogenation.
Hydrogenation produces trans fats that are strongly linked with heart disease,
cancer and other chronic illnesses. The final product is coloured and flavoured
with various agents to make it feel and look like butter. Then finally
ingredients like plant sterols and stanols and alpha linolenic acid is added to
make it appear healthy. The finished product is not natural or healthy.

Plant
stanols and sterols are added to reduce cholesterol. However, overwhelming
evidence now shows cholesterol is just a poor indicator of heart attack, not
the cause 4. It is just the warning sign or, if I can use an
analogy, like a fire alarm in your home, it is not the problem itself, but a
warning about the problem. You can get plenty of stanol and sterols in nuts,
beans and seeds, which are not only natural but also full of other healthful
benefits including vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and so much more and reduce
all forms chronic illness. Margarine manufacturers can trumpet the presence of
“heart-healthy” Omega 3 fats on the label, however they are putting plant-based
Omega 3 fats (alpha linolenic acid) that do not act like Omega 3 from fish
sources. They still have to be converted in our body to fish-like Omega 3s. It
is also questionable whether they will be oxidised or not and therefore of any
value. Adding a nutrient to toxic food does not make it healthy. Do you really
believe the advertising?

Margarine
is a major source of trans fatty acids, the intake of which has risen since the
early 20th century. Trans fatty acids are synthetic fats produced as a
byproduct of the hydrogenation of liquid vegetable oils, making them into solid
margarine. An abundance of data indicates that consumption of trans fatty acids
increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), cancer, diabetes and other
chronic illnesses. Margarine companies are now obliged to list the amount of
trans fats on the side of the packet. Until recently however, margarine has
been the single biggest source of these very toxic fats.

In a
study of women, long-term margarine and trans fat consumption was associated
with a 67% increased risk of heart disease 5. The decrease in intake
of trans fatty acids in Denmark saw a 50% reduction in the number of deaths
from ischemic heart disease 6. A recent study found that trans fatty
acids promote cardiovascular disease by triggering inflammatory processes in
the cells lining blood vessels 7. Increased intake of trans fatty
acids has also been linked with an increase in the risk of colorectal tumours
by about 86% 8. The potentially damaging effects of trans fats may
also be passed from a mother to her child during breast feeding and can lead to
an increase in cardiac insulin resistance when the kids become adults 9.

During
the past 150 years, the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of agribusiness
with processed foods, grain-fattened livestock, and hydrogenation of vegetable
fats have considerably reduced the available content of Omega 3 fatty acids and
increased that of Omega 6 fatty acids. While Omega 6 and 3 oils are considered
essential fatty acids, the research is now showing that it is important to get
the correct balance of the fats. An imbalance leads to various metabolic
diseases. Western diets are now deficient in Omega 3 fatty acids and are laden
with excessive amounts of Omega 6 fatty acids compared with the diet on which
human beings evolved and their genetic patterns were established. Our diets now
have 14 to 20 times more Omega 6 (vegetable oil) than Omega 3 fatty acids. This
imbalance is now linked with diseases such as heart attack, stroke, cancer,
obesity, insulin resistance, asthma, arthritis, depression, ADHD, Alzheimer’s
disease and even premature ageing. The ideal balance is less than 4:1 or even
1:1 Omega 6 and 3, respectively.

Omega
6 oils such as corn, safflower, cottonseed, sunflower, and soya are now in nearly
all our foods. Apart from the obvious consumption of vegetable oils and
margarine you buy in the supermarket—which I hope you are now not going to
buy—Omega 6 oils are hidden in most foods. You will find vegetable oils in just
about every processed and semi-processed food including bread, cakes, and
breakfast cereals and in lots of the plant-based drinks like almond or soya
milk the main ingredient is often vegetable oil. All the takeaway foods, frozen
and packaged dinners have Omega 6 oils. Even the “new” Mediterranean diet is
laden with Omega 6 oils. When you buy olives, pesto sauce, sundried tomatoes or
anything soaking in oil it is now vegetable oil in which it is soaked, not
olive oil because vegetable oil is cheaper, unless you go to Italy where most
foods are still soaked in olive oil. It is almost impossible to get away from
the excess of Omega 6 oils. Time to read the labels! Factory produced eggs have
20 times more Omega 6 than Omega 3 compared to free-range eggs, which have a
ratio of 1:1. Similarly, grain-fed beef (which I do not recommend you eat) has
around 20:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3 oils because the cows are fed grains rich in
Omega 6 oils. Alpha linolenic acid is found in the grass and is converted into
the important Omega 3 oils by the animals. It is found only in grass-fed
animals. Grass-fed cows are also a lot less stressed and have as a result lower
levels of inflammation.

On the
topic of animals fats, I have highlighted in earlier articles that despite
claims by the Heart Foundation there is no scientific evidence to suggest that
saturated fat through dairy consumption is associated with increased heart
attack. By contrast, in a 16-year prospective study of 1,529 adult Australians,
researchers found a possible beneficial association between intake of full-fat
dairy and cardiovascular mortality 10. Whoops… the Heart Foundation
got it wrong again.

By
contrast, the Framingham study, which followed people for 20 years (a very long
and comprehensive study) and recorded heart attack incidence, found margarine
intake increased coronary heart disease in men 11. The scientists in
their very conservative language wrote, “These data offer modest support to the
hypothesis that margarine intake increases the risk of coronary heart disease.”
Not the opposite. In the second ten-year period of the study, the group eating
the most margarine had 77% more heart attacks than the group eating none.

Studies
that investigated increasing the amount of Omega 6 without a subsequent
increase in animal-based Omega 3 (fish oil) consistently found an increase in
coronary heart disease (CHD) and all-cause mortality. In an early study,
published in 1965, researchers found that people consuming corn oil, a rich
source of Omega 6, had a 4.64 times (over 400%) increased risk for both chronic
heart disease and death from all causes 12. In the conservative
language of scientists, the authors of the study concluded that corn oil is
“possibly harmful.” In another study, in which participants consumed more
safflower oil and a safflower oil polyunsaturated margarine, participants had a
49% increased risk of death from all causes including a 91% increase from
chronic heart disease and 96% from CVD 13.

In one
study specifically on Omega 6 consumption in more than 9,000 people, the risk
of non-fatal heart attack and death from coronary heart disease was
significantly increased among women consuming the n-6 specific polyunsaturated
fatty acid (PUFA) diet for one year or less 14. Women consuming this
n-6 specific PUFA diet for any duration had non-significant trends to increased
risk of non-fatal heart attack and coronary heart disease and any cardiovascular
event including death and stroke 14. In fact the Lyon Diet Heart
Study found that after follow up of 27 months, non-fatal heart attack and
coronary heart disease death and overall mortality were 73% and 70% lower in
the experimental group who consumed lower Omega 6 oils and replaced vegetable
oils with olive oil. This study also demonstrated that lowering linoleic acid
(Omega 6 vegetable oil) below 50% is not harmful and may even be beneficial,
producing a profound risk reduction in coronary heart disease.

A
recent meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials investigating
polyunsaturated Omega 6 oil consumption (vegetable oils and margarine) found
that there is absolutely no scientific justification for recommending the
increased consumption of Omega 6 oils 2. Or, to quote their
conclusion, “Advice to specifically increase n-6 PUFA intake … is unlikely to
provide the intended benefits, and may actually increase the risks of CHD and
death.” The study found for non-fatal myocardial infarction (heart attack) and
death from coronary heart disease there was an increased risk of 13% for diets
with increased Omega 6. The studies that substituted Omega 6 for saturated
fatty acids without simultaneously increasing Omega 3 oils also produced an
increase in risk of death. It seems the vegetable oils are just as bad as the
trans fats and what we are really lacking are the Omega 3 fish oils.

Arachidonic
acid is produced in the body from too much Omega 6 and produces chemical
messengers that lead to inflammation in the body called eicosanoids and
cytokines. The increase in linoleic acid (Omega 6) has been shown to increase
the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol) 15. There
is nothing wrong with cholesterol until it is oxidised. The evidence from
animal studies also shows that a high linoleic acid diet can promote certain
cancers 16 and other inflammatory diseases. In a study of 203,193
men and women, increased intakes of Omega 6 fatty acid (linoleic acid) doubled
the risk of ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, which has seen a
rapid increase during recent decades. By contrast the highest intakes of Omega
3 were associated with 77% reduction in the risk of the disease 17.
Omega 6 fatty acids are present in the cell membrane of colon cells in the form
of arachidonic acid. This can be metabolised to chemical messengers in the body
called prostaglandin E2, leukotriene B4 and thromboxane A2, all of which are
associated with inflammation. On the other hand, Omega 3 fatty acids, including
docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may prevent
colonic inflammation.

There
is also research showing that too much Omega 6 oil is contributing to premature
ageing. Telomeres, which are in all our cells, are thought to be markers of our
ageing because they reflect cumulative oxidative stress and inflammation. The
shorter they are, the more we have aged. Because the metabolites of Omega 6
promote inflammation, it is believed that an increase in Omega 6 fatty acid
content in our diet decreases the leukocyte telomere length 18,19
and hence speeds up the ageing process.

It is time to rethink our fat
consumption. The research shows that fat in itself is not bad—in fact, it is
essential and the move away from fat has lead to a more obese and sicker
population. What we need to do however is decrease our consumption of processed
oils like margarine and vegetable oils and increase our Omega 3 fish oils along
with Omega 9 oils, including olive oil.